Reel 13 = Officially ‘Cool’

March 31st, 2008

Thirteen blogger: Neal Shapiro, President

There I was, having a quiet Sunday brunch with my family and my 20-year-old nephew–let’s call him Spencer (because that’s his name).

Spencer is ultra-cool and he had taken us to an ultra-cool brunch restaurant in Brooklyn. Although he thinks it is nice that I work at Thirteen, my job isn’t right up there on his list of cool, hip professions.

As we were deciding whether to get the duck egg over lardons and potatoes or the “The Beast Pizza”, a total hipster type, with cool clothes, an earring and 3-day stubble tentatively approached our table .

He hesitated and then came closer, tapping me on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, are you who I think you are?”

My nephew looks at him…and then looks at me. What could this cool guy possibly want with me?

“Who do you think I am?”

“Aren’t you that guy on Thirteen?”

“Yes, I am, ” I replied.

“Oh man,” he said, “I want to thank you so much. So much.”

I extended my hand…and he ignored it. Instead, he enveloped me in a big bear hug. My nephew was even more stunned.

“I love Reel 13,” he explained. “I love the classic and the short and the indie feature. I was watching last night and as usual, I got hooked. I couldn’t go out until it was all over.”

Now, my guess is that there was plenty for him to do in Brooklyn after our independent movie ended at around 1 am, but it’s great for us at Thirteen to know we are reaching all kinds of viewers, opening their eyes to different kinds of movies.

I hope you’ll give yourself a chance to get swept away by Reel 13–not just because these classic movies are always framed with an expert’s introduction that will make them even more enjoyable…and not just because you, the viewer get to pick which short feature film airs each Saturday…and not just because we find award-winning independent films that have never been seen on broadcast television.